Criminal's Daughter
by Believe27
Summary: What if Ian had a daughter and she came along for the ride? Raven Howe is a smart history major with a juvy record that could possibly change her life forever if it comes out. How can Raven help Ben, Riley, and Abigail? Who knows! COMPLETE
1. Decisions

Chapter One: Decisions

**I came up with the idea, sorry if you don't like it but I thought it was a good idea! I don't think anyone has had 'if Ian had a daughter' story. If someone did write one, I'm not copying anything! I don't own National Treasure, if I did I would have the third movie already out! All I own is Raven Howe!**

I was ten years old when I went to the United States for the first time with my father. My mother felt that the US was unsafe, but I wanted to go to school there. My father was taking me on a business trip as my Holiday. He said we were going to visit a friend of his who lives in Washington. His name was Benjamin Franklin Gates. He was named after the famous Benjamin Franklin. Wen walked up to Benjamin's apartment room, Dad knocked on the door. Benjamin opened the door and smiled.

"You must be Ian Howe and who's this?" He bent down to my level. "Raven!" I squealed. Ben laughed. For a ten year old, I loved to smiled but I wasn't a normal girl. I had raven black hair but I was born with it. That's mainly how I got my name. Blue eyes and I loved history. Benjamin was the perfect person to learn from. I wanted to be a historian or something along those lines.

* * *

><p>It was 4 years since I was in the US, my parents were fighting more than usual. I was immune to it until doors slammed. I didn't like that at the time. It was my mother going to her car in a hurry. I knew my mother wasn't in love with Dad but I didn't think this much. Dad came into my room and sighed. "Daddy, what's wrong?" I asked. "Just a fight." He said.<p>

"With slammed doors? It sounded terrible." I said. Dad sat on my bed and pulled me into his side. I rested my head on his shoulder. I knew what was about to happen. "You two are getting a divorce?" My Dad nodded. I sighed but it was the right thing.

* * *

><p>At court, my Dad won custody over my mother because she was dying and my grandparents were all dead at this time. I was moving to America and living in Philadelphia, my Dad was still doing business with Ben Gates looking for this ship called the <em>Charlotte<em>. Apparently my Dad was the only one who believed him. I was moving into an apartment with four other men. That didn't make me uncomfortable, it was four of Dad's friends. Shaw, Phil, Victor, and Powell. I knew my Dad was behind something. His friends seemed like criminals to me but it was my only chance to get to America.

* * *

><p>Present Day, November 14, 2004<p>

I sit on the plane going to the Arctic Circle to look for the _Charlotte. _My Dad got us all first-class seating on the plane. I didn't complain, first-class is awesome. I have a seat to my self until a man in his early 20s sits next to me. I raise an eyebrow at him. I pull out one of my headphones and stare at him. "Can I help you?" I ask. The man looks at me. Okay, I can't complain that he's sitting next to me know. He's has blue eyes and dark hair. "I'm Riley Poole." I just stare at him as my Dad walks passed us. I smile at him.

"How much longer, Daddy?" I ask. I know, I know. I'm a 21 year old girl who still calls her Dad, daddy. Childish but he knows how I am. "Another 5 hours, Ray." Dad says. He uses my nickname all the time, he's the only one who can. I should describe myself, I dyed my hair red after I moved to America. My Dad was pissed when I came home and my hair was dyed but I didn't care. I roll my eyes as he goes into the bathroom stall. I turn back to Riley.

"I'm Raven Howe, Ian Howe's daughter." I say. Riley nods and opens his laptop, he types away. I take the laptop away from him and smirk. I start to type away. Riley tries to grab his laptop when I pull it away more. I finish what I was doing to his laptop and hand it back to him. He looks at the laptop and smiles. "How?"

"I'm pretty good with computers and computer programs. Look at this." I say as I pull out my MacBook. I show everything I have down with it, all my edited photos, videos, and more. Riley seems impressed by everything I have accomplished with my Mac. I wasn't surprised that he's impressed.

After 5 and a half hours later, we all get off the plane and to the snow mobiles. The men talk while I get in. I stare out the window of the snow mobile, resting my chin in my left hand. The snow looks so beautiful here. Riley opens the door and I fall into the snow. Riley bursts out laughing! I stand up and wipe away the water. "You idiot! Couldn't see you I was dazed?" I snap. Dad comes over to us. "Problem?"

"No...no...no, sir." Riley stammers. I allow Riley to get into the truck first before I get in again.

I listen to Ben's story again as we ride through the snow. I smile. History is my favorite subject. The Knights Templar was great to learn about. My mom gave me a ring when I was little. The symbols were something to do with the Masons and the Knights Templar. "I was thinking about Henson and Peary, crossing this kind of terrain with nothing more than dog sleds and on foot." Ben says. I snap back into reality. Riley is tracking the ship's location. I watch the scenery outside. Beautiful snow even if it -25 degrees outside. "Can you imagine?"

"It's extraordinary." Dad mumbles. I wonder if my Dad has something up his sleeves. Riley's laptop beeps as we become closer. "We getting closer?"

"Assuming Ben's theory is correct and my tracking model's accurate, we should be getting _very _close. But don't go by me-I broke a shoelace this morning." The two men and I look at the computer genius with a very confusing look. "Excuse me? You broke a shoelace?" I say.

"It's...it's a bad omen."

"Shall we turn around and go back home?" Dad asks. "Or we could pull over and just throw him out here." Ben chuckles. I laugh and Riley glares at me.

Riley gives a fake chuckle. "OK."

"Riley, you're not missing that little windowless cubicle we found you in?" Ben asks. I giggle. A windowless cubicle? Interesting. "No, no. Absolutely not." Riley says as the computer continuous beeps. Ben stops the mobile and everyone gets out.

"Why are we stopping? I thought we were looking for a ship." Shaw snaps. I jump into the snow. I take out my camera and start taking pictures. Riley and Shippen talk, I roll my eyes. Good job, Riley, you broke Shippen's brain. Ben goes off in a different direction. After a good two hours the ship is revealed. I take as many pictures as I can before Ben, Dad, Shaw, and Riley go in. I follow behind. I come up behind Riley when he comes across a corpse. He freaks and falls backwards on top of me. "You handled that well." Ben says. Riley glares. "Get the Hell off me!" I hiss. Riley stands up and helps me up. I wipe off the snow and shake my head.

We go into the cargo hold. Riley breaks a barrel and gun powder goes everywhere. I look at my side. My gun Dad gave me after we got off the plane. "Found something!" I turn to Ben, who is unwrapping something. I walk over to them and look at the object. It's a box with special symbols on it. I smile at my Dad. He understands what I mean. Ben opens the box and there's a pipe.

"You guys know what this is?" Ben asks.

"A billion-dollar pipe?" I roll my eyes. "Riley, your an idiot. It's a meerschaum pipe. My goodness, its beautiful." I say.

"Is it a million-dollar pipe?"

"No, it's a clue." Ben says. I take a step back. A clue? "But Ben, I thought you said that treasure would be on the _Charlotte._" I ask. Dad nods.

"I said it _could _be here." Ben says as he takes the stem off the pipe. "No, don't break it!" Riley protests. I roll my eyes. Pipes like that are able to take off the stem. Normally they have a hidden message.

"We're on step closer to the treasure." Ben says. My hand goes to my gun, ready to aim. My dad looks pissed off with the news. I don't blame him. Ben pulls out a pocket knife and pinches his thumb with the tip. Blood slowly oozes from the pressure. Riley gulps but continues to watch. Ben gasps. He runs the blood on the stem. A notebook is open on top of the box. Ben rolls the stem with blood on the it.

"It's Templar symbols." Ben says.

"_The legend writ."_

"_The stain effected."_

"_The key in Silence undetected,"_

"_Fifty-five in iron pen._

"_Mr. Matlack can't offend."_

"It's a riddle." Ben grabs his gloves. "I need to think." Dad looks at me and clenches his fist. I give him a look to calm him down. Ben mumbles on about the riddle on the pipe. "Wait a minute. What do you mean 'invisible-an 'invisible map'?" Dad asks.

"'The stain effect' could refer to a dye or reagent used to bring about a certain result. Combined with 'The key in Silence undetected', the implication is that the effect is to make what was undetectable detectable. Unless...'The key in Silence' could be..." Dad sits near Ben when Shaw says, "Prison." I rub my forehead.

"Albuquerque." Riley says. "See I can do it too. Snorkel."

"'Fifty-five in iron pen'. 'Iron pen' is a prison." Shaw says. I punch his shoulder. "You idiot! 'Iron pen' was the writing medium." Dad glares at me. He told me never to jump into a conversation between Shaw and someone else. Oh, well.

"Wait a minute. 'Iron pen'-the 'iron' doesn't describe the ink in the pen, it describes what was penned. It was 'iron'-it was firm, it was mineral...No, no, no that's stupid. It was...It was firm, it was admant, it was resolved. It was resolved." Ben's brain is speeding up with the history. Dad, Shaw, and Riley just blink. I sit in the snow covered floor and listen. "'Mr. Matlack can't offend'. Timothy Matlack was the official scribe of the Continental Congress. Calligrapher, not writer. And to make sure he could not offend the map, it was put on the back of a resolution that fifty-five men signed. The Declaration of Independence." I stare at Ben. If this treasure is real, this is going to change everything in history and I would be a part of history!

"Come on, there'e no invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence." RIley snaps. "Its actually very clever. A document of that importance would ensure the map's survival. And you said there were several Masons signed it, yeah?" Dad says. "Yeah. Nine, for sure."

"We'll have to arrange a way to examine it." Dad says. I smile at him. "This is one of the most important document in history They're not just gonna let us waltz in there and run chemical tests on it." Ben says.

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"I don't know!" Ben snaps. Silence goes through the room. I look at my Dad and stand up. I put my hand on Ben's shoulder. "We could...borrow it." Ben looks up at me. "Steal it?"

"Same difference."

"Wow, your evil." Riley mumbles. "Don't make me shoot you." I snap. Riley shuts up/

"I'm sorry but I don't think so." Ben says. "Ben...the treasure of the Knights Templar is the treasure of all treasures." Dad says.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Really?" I roll my eyes. "Look...Ben, I understand your bitterness, I really do." Dad looks at me. He's talking about Mom leaving us. "You've spent your entire life searching for the treasure, only to have the respect historical community treat you and your family with mockery and contempt. You should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces, and I want you to have the chance to do that."

"How?" Ben asks.

"We all have our areas of expertise. You didn't think mine are limited to writing checks, do you?" Dad laughs. "In another life...I arranged a number of operation of...questionable legality." Shaw walks over to Dad. I walk backwards towards Riley. "I'd take his word for it, if I were you." He says.

"So don't worry, I'll make all the arrangements." Dad says. "No." Ben says. I turn to Riley and whisper, "I'm on your side." Riley rolls his eyes.

"I'd really need your help here." Dad says. "Ian...I'm not gonna let you steal the Declaration of Independence." Ben says

"OK. From this point on all you're going to be is a hindrance." Shaw points a gun at Ben. "Hey!" Riley yells.

"What are you going to do? Are you gonna shoot me, Shaw? Well, you can't shoot me. There's more to the riddle. Information you don't have. I do. I'm the only one who can figure it out and you know that." Ben says. "Actually, I have Raven, the history major." Dad smirks. I drop my gun into the snow.

"Not anymore, Dad. I may have been a "good girl" for a long time but not any more." I fold my arms. "Your juvy record could say otherwise." I look down at the snow and sigh. He's right but I'm on Ben's side no matter what.

"Tell me what I need to know Ben or I'll shoot your friend." Shaw points the gun at Riley. "Hey!" I snap.

"Shut up Raven. Another word and you won't see the treasure." Dad snaps. I slowly bend down to grab my gun. Ben lights a flare and Shaw steps back with gun aimed at Ben.

"Look where you're standing. All that gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, we all go up." Ben threats. "Ben..." Riley mumbles. I point my gun at Shaw with my finger on the trigger.

"What happens when the flare burns down?" Dad asks. "Tell me what I need to know."

"You need to know...if Shaw can catch!" Ben throws the flare and close my eyes shut. I open them and see Dad grabbed it. I aim for the tip of the flare and shoot. The flare tip explodes on my Dad's arm. I pull Riley away and towards Ben when the flare hits the ground. Dad slams the door of the cargo hold. "Riley, Raven! Get over here!" Ben yells.

"What is this?" Riley asks. "Smuggler's hold. Get in!" Ben yells. We get in the hold and all the way to the back of the ship. Ben closes the door as the ship exposes. I fall and land on top of Riley without warning. Riley coughs and spluttering. "Get off me." He mumbles.

"At least we know who will be on top." I smirk. We all sit up. I see Dad and his men drive off. We emerge from the destroyed ship. I pull out my camera and take pictures for proof. "There's an Inuit village about nine miles east of here." Ben says.

"Then what are we going to do?" Riley asks. "Starting making our way back home." Ben says.

"No, I meant about Ian. He's gonna steal the Declaration of Independence, Ben." Riley says. I turn to Riley. "We'll stop him." I say.


	2. Juvy Talk

Chapter Two: Juvy Talk

**Hey, look a new chapter that I wasn't expecting to put up! Its a short chapter but its over 1,000 words. I'm going to start the next chapter have it up by the weekend or Monday. I don't know yet.**

"You under-arrest, Raven Howe." The officer said. I wasn't surprised. I was in the process of getting a juvy record. "Yeah, yeah. I know the drill." I mumbled. My Dad was called down to the police station to get me. My Dad wasn't surprised that I lash out right now. Finding out that Mom died, getting kicked out of school, and failing a test that would make me able to graduation early. Screw everyone.

* * *

><p>Two years after that incident. I was walking around the school building, doing an assignment for photograph. The camera was taken out of my hand and thrown to the ground. It shattered. I grabbed the kid by the neck. "How dare you? I haven't done anything to you." I snapped. "Raven Howe!" The principal's voice rang out. Damn, another detention. I let go of the kid's throat and he ran away. I picked up the camera and walked into the office with the principal.<p>

"This can't happen, Raven." He said. I crossed my arms. "But, it happens more often because someone leaked out that I have a juvy record but I'm clean right now. Well, semi-clean." I tried to smile but the principal wasn't falling for it.

"Ms. Howe, this time I can't have you go into detention. I have to give you a week suspension." I gasped. "No, please don't! My handler said if I got suspended in this school that my record would have to go in front of the judge...again." I said.

"I'm sorry, Raven, but its final." I slumped into the comfy chair and waited for my Dad to arrive and get me. I regretted everything I've ever done.

* * *

><p>Present Day, November 15, 2004<p>

Phil and Shippen dropped off all my belongings at my apartment. I open my locked box that my Mom gave me. I pull the key off my chain and unlock it. The ring was on top. My Mom's side of the family was said to be decent from several Masons. Next, I see a check for $3,000 for emergencies. I think I'm going to give the money to the National Archives so I can get on Dr. Chase's good side. I sigh when my phone rings with 'Ghost of You' by Selena Gomez.

"Riley, I told you not to call during the hours of 7AM to 12PM."

_"Sorry, I know. Ben didn't have your number and want to say…" _

_"Meet us at the FBI building." _Ben took the phone away from Riley.

"Ben, you know…" I hear Riley and Ben bitter over the phone. I put the phone on speaker and finish looking through the sealed box. "Guys, stop! I can't step foot in that building. My record is under suspicion.

_"What did you exact do, Ray?"_

"Don't call me that! And, I'll tell you when the time is right." I hang up the phone. If I'm going to give the money to the Archives, I should look presentable. I change into a black pencil skirt, a sleeveless dress shirt, and heels. I go to the National Archives and ask to see Dr. Chase. She meets me at the Declaration. "Raven, good to see you." Dr. Chase's Saxony German accent says. I turn to her.

"Abigail. The check I've been promising." Abigail smiles and leads us to her office. "I'm hoping this check is able to get me an invite to the celebration this weekend?" Abigail laughs.

"As long as its just you because my date isn't able to make it." I nod as I sit down. "Yeah, just me." I smile.

"And one more thing…" I start. "Raven, we're been over this. I can't give you an internship here because of you record." I sigh and stand up. I look around her office. I see her button collection.

"I know someone who find one of these buttons. He's an incredible man." Abigail hates when I try to set her up with one of my friends. She rolls her eyes. "He's a historian, actually." Her assistant walks in.

"Dr. Chase, two men are here to talk to you. They say its urgent." Abigail nods as she answers the phone. She looks at me. "We'll talk later." I nod and walk out of the office. I see Ben and Riley sitting in chairs. Riley's eyes bug out and his mouth drops to the ground. "Keep your tongue to yourself, bud." I pat his shoulder and leave the office area. I go to the documents and look at all of them. I memorized most of them by heart. Two men walk up to the Declaration, its Riley and Ben.

"You guys didn't last long." Riley eyes his eyes. The guys looks at the Declaration and sigh "My guess is that Abigail didn't believe you." I smirk. Ben sighs.

"180 years of searching and I'm three feet away. Of all the ideas that became the United States, there's a line that's at the heart of all the others." Ben says.

_'But when a long train of abuses and usurpation, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security.'_

"People don't talking that way anymore."

"Beautiful, huh?" Riley says. "No idea what you said."

"Riley, it means, if there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action." I say. Riley nods.

"I'm gonna steal it."

I laugh until Riley says, "What?"

"I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence." Ben says. He walks away. Riley laughs. "Uh, Riley. He's not kidding."

"Ben!" Riley says as we run after him.

* * *

><p>We go to the Lincoln Memorial and sit on the steps talking about this idea. "This is…huge." Riley says. "Prison huge. You are gonna go to prison, you know that?"<p>

"Yeah, probably."

"That would bother most people." I mumble. Ben sits next to me. "Your Dad is going to try and steal it. And if he succeeds, he'll destroy the Declaration. The fact is, the only way to protect the Declaration is to steal it. It's upside down." Ben says.

"I'm guessing there's no other choice?" Ben shakes his head. Riley stands up and faces us.

"Ben, for God's sakes, its like stealing a national monument. OK? Its like stealing him. It can't be done. Not that it shouldn't be done. It _can't_ be done!" I roll my eyes. "Let me prove it to you."


	3. Plans

Chapter Three: Plans

**Yeah, yeah, yeah...another chapter...Short again. Sorry. Next one is going to be written tonight and possibly more. The next chapter should be up on Sunday because I'm not going to be home until late!**

Riley brings us to the Library of Congress. He plops down many books in front of us. I look at all the book titles. "Really? All of these books are going to teach Ben a lesson on stealing?" I open one of the book but in the process I slit my finger. "Bloody Hell!" I hiss. I put my finger to my lips but Riley quickly grabs my hand. He takes a bandage out of his pocket. He puts it on my finger. I smile at him.

"Riley, get on with it." Ben says.

"OK, Ben, Raven, pay attention. I've brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over twenty-million books. And they're all saying the same thing: listen to Riley." Ben and I look at Riley. I blink my eyes and laugh. "What we have here, my friend, is an entire layout of the archives. Short of builders' blueprints. You've got construction orders, phone lines, water and sewage-it's all here. Now, when the Declaration is on display." He holds up a book ad proof. "Its is surrounded by guards and video monitors and little family from Iowa and little kids on their eighth-grade field trip. And beneath inch of bulletproof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors that will go off if it's not on display, it is lowered into a four-foot-thick concrete, steel-plated vault…that happens to be equipped with a electronic combination lock and biometric access-denial system." After all that Riley didn't make a point.

"You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb." Ben says. "Edison?" Riley questions.

"When asked about it, he said. "I didn't fail, I found out 2,000 ways not to make a lightbulb." But he only needed to find one who to make it work." Ben shows Riley the book. "The Preservation Room. Enjoy. Go ahead." Riley picks up the book to read it. I lean my chin on his shoulder, I read over his shoulder.

"Do you know what the Preservation Room is for?" Ben asks. "Delicious jams and jellies?" Riley guesses. I chuckle.

"No, not jams and jellies, Riley. The room is used for cleaning, repairing. and maintaining the documents when they're not on display or in the vault." I say. Riley rolls his eyes. "Now, when the case needs work they take it out of the vault, directly across the and into the Preservation Room. The best time for us, or Ian to steal it would be during the gala this weekend when the guards are distracted by the VIPs upstairs. But we'll make our way to the Preservation Room, where there's much less security." Ben says. Riley processes what Ben was saying.

"Huh. Well if Ian…Uh…Preservation…Hm. The gala, huh?" Riley looks up at Ben. "This might be possible."

"It might." Ben replies.

After we get our assignments for the next morning, Riley drops me off at home. "Thanks. See you in the morning. Ben said I had to drop something off at the Archives." Riley nods and smiles. I go into my apartment and prepare for the morning.

* * *

><p>November 16, 2004<p>

In the morning, Riley and I head to the Archives of the United States of America. Riley goes to the subway. I get out and ask to see Abigail. I walk into her office. "Abigail, Paul Brown wanted me to give you this." Abigail looks surprised by that comment. "He's my friend I was telling you about." I smirk. Abigail opens the gift and reveals the button Abigail was missing. "Wow, he just gave it to you like that! Some guy." I say. Abigail gets up and puts it in her case.

"Now about the gala I'm going to have to arrive with you because I'm not going to be able to get in." I say. Every part of this plan was all my ideas. Ben and Riley don't know I'm going to be the gala. Abigail nods. "Okay. I will get you at 5:30 because I have to arrive early." She says.

"Okay, I will give you my address and I'll be ready by 5:25." I say writing down my address. I leave the office and go into the bathroom to hide my gun and taser behind one of the stales. I walk out of the bathroom and go into the document room. I see Riley 'filming' the area. He uses a laser to set off the heat monitors. Riley and I go to his red van and watch his computer secret.

"Let's do this by the book." A man says. Riley stops his hand before putting a piece of gum in his mouth. Him in glasses can I say…he looks damn hot. "Hallway is secure." Man 2 says.

"Keep the document level." Man 1 says. "No problem."

"What you got?" Abigail asks. "The heat sensors went off in the Declaration frame." Another man says.

"Run full diagnostics then I want them all changed out." She says. I smile.

"Our evil plan is working." Riley says. I nod, Riley smiles at me. I know on the other side of town Dad is looking at the blueprints and figuring out how to break in and steal the Declaration. Good thing I hid my gun and taser somewhere no one is going to find it before the event. Riley puts his arm around my shoulders, I raise an eyebrow. "Uh, Riley." He looks at me. "What the Hell are you doing?" Riley snaps his arm back to his side as we watch the screen again. I know Riley sucks at flirting but this is terrible. I need to teach him a lesson.

Riley drives me home again, for the second time this week. I get ready for the rest of the night and think about the gala tomorrow night. I think I'm going to need a dress but I can deal with that, that day. Something that will make a statement and maybe get Riley's attention since he did like me in a skirt yesterday. Maybe, I should invite Riley and help me get a dress since I have no car. Screw my father.


	4. Gala Damage

Chapter Four: Gala Damage

**Just another chapter! Next one won't be up until next week sometime because I have a lot to do next week.**

I open the door to my closet but all my dress look to juvenile for a woman like me. I need to shop. Damn, my car is in the shop. I wonder if Riley is free right now. I pick up the phone and dial Riley's number.

_"Raven?" _I heard Riley yawn.

"I was wondering if you could drive me to a dress shop. I have a party tonight and I need a dress for the occasion. My Dad sold my car." I heard Riley ruffle around his room and speaking to quickly for me to understand. I roll my eyes. "Riley, I can't understand I word you say. Slow down or just come over and get me." The phone on the other line clicks off. I look at my phone and sigh. Within 15 minutes the doorbell rings. "Come in!" I yell. The door opens and it's Riley. Like I thought.

I grab my wallet and we head out. Riley drops me off in front of a dress shop. "You don't have to come in with me." I say. Riley gets out a follows like a puppy. "You don't have to wait for me." Riley shakes his head and we walk in. I go over to the dresses and pick some out. I head to the dressing room. Riley is sitting outside on a chair waiting for me to emerge. I rather not show him every dress since I hate wearing dresses and I don't have the money like the other women coming to the celebration. I walk out of the dressing room to ask Riley's opinion. Riley isn't there. He's attempting to flirt with the sales clerk.

"Oh sweetie! How about this one?" I ask. Riley turns along with the clerk. I'm wearing a strapless, heart neckline, the color is burgundy, and I knew I'm going to have to wear heels so I don't trip over the length of the dress. I smile at them. Riley's mouth drops to the ground when he sees me. "Uh, wow, Raven." He stammers. The sales clerk smiles and walks over to me. I get changed and pay for the dress. I was also suckered into buying new shoes at the dress shoe too. Riley drove me home without a word. I guess after seeing me in that dress. He drives up to the curb and parks for a moment.

"Thanks, Riley." I say as I lean over and kiss his cheek. He's cheeks redden, I shake my head. I head inside my apartment building.

* * *

><p>Abigail comes to my apartment at 5:30 sharp for the gala. We show up and the place is empty, Abigail put me to work to get ready for the event. The gala started at 6:30, sharp. I'm talking to one of Abigail's donators. We were talking about the documents, my college life, how I'm becoming a college professor for history. "Yeah, its pretty nice to study history. I'm friends with Ben Gates, he's great to learn from." I smile. The woman nods, slightly and looks around. The couple chatters between each other and I want to continue. "So, you say you have a nephew who works here. What department?" I ask. I got Mrs. Asher's attention.<p>

"He works with repairs." She says. "You should meet him." I smile at her.

"Can I just freshen up before I meet him?" I ask. She nods and talks to her husband. I roll my eyes. Stuck up, witch. I walk into the bathroom. No one is in there, yet. Thank God. I quickly find my gun and taser in the same place I left them. I fix my makeup and refresh my lipstick. I had to make it seem believable that I'm 'interested' in him. I walk out of the bathroom and bump into a man as I try to close my clutch. The man takes my clutch and closes it on the first try. I gulp because I hope he didn't see what I had in there. I look up and see its the nephew of Mrs. Asher. "Ah, you must be Carmen Asher. I was talking to your Aunt about you. You work to repair, maintain, and clean the documents and frames." I say. Carmen laughs. "Yeah, I do." I chuckle when my phone starts to beep. I close my eyes and sigh. Dad's here. I need to warn Ben. I look around the room to see if I can see Ben.

"Looking for someone?" He asks. "Uh, just a friend of mine." I say as I see Ben walking with a cup in hand. He walks into the bathroom.

"I've never seen you here. Did you just get a job here?" He asks. "Uh, no. I know Dr. Chase, personally. Her dated cancelled at the last minute and I made a $3,000 donation." I say with a smile. I see Abigail talking to Dr. Herbert, I hate that guy.

"Hey, Carmen. Do you want to go somewhere private? So we can…talk more." I smirk. Carmen looks at me and nods. We head towards the elevator when I see Ben exit the bathroom. "Actually, how about a souvenir first." Carmen goes into the gift shop to buy me something. I take out my phone as it beeps again. My Dad is getting closer. I was a genius to out a tracking device in his phone. Carmen comes out and hands me the bag. He got a copy of the Declaration. Hm, this could come in handy. Carmen leads me to the elevator and to his office. I know where Ben is. I come up to Carmen who is sitting at his desk. I kiss his lip and before he can kiss me back I taser him. He falls unconscious. Wow, lousy kisser. I come out of his office and lock the door. I know when he wakens he's going to sing. My phone continuously beeps as I walk into the hallway of the vault area. My phone rings as I turn a corner. "What!"

_"Where are you?"_

"Riley, can't talk."

_"Where are you?"_

"Riley, I can't talk about this right now!" I hang up the phone. I see Ben by the elevator waiting for it to open. I run to him quickly.

"We need to get out of here, now! Ian's here!" I whisper. Ben struggles to hold the frame up as the door opens. We turn and see Ian and Shaw. "Gates, Raven." He says. I scramble to get my gun out of my clutch. Damn, this small area. I finally pull it out when Shaw shoots. Ben smacks his back into the doors of the elevator. I felt a bullet graze my arm. I shoot at Shaw as Ben and I get into the elevator. "Go to the side." I hiss. Ben does what I say. I shoot at Shaw but miss every time. Damn, Shaw for shooting at me. Shaw misses the elevator every time he shoots. He sucks at shooting a gun.

"I'm in the elevator. Ian's here. There was, uh, shooting by Shaw and Raven." Ben says. Ben must be wearing a hearing device that Riley can hear everything. Ben finishes taking out the document before the doors open. I walk out before him so it doesn't seem odd. I walk through the gala, grabbing a drink and chugging it down. I lost Ben in the process but he has my gift shop item. I leave the party, when I'm outside, I run to the familiar red van. I open the back doors and jump in. I take off my shoes and throw them to the ground. Riley turns and his eyes widen. "Ben should be out soon. Start the van." I whisper. I keep my eyes out for Ben, I see him and open the back doors again. He hands me the real Declaration. I put it in a case to keep it safe. I warned Ben that Dad was after him so we're using my copy as the bait. I look out the window and see…

I punch Riley's arm and point. He turns and closes his eyes. "Ben, the uh…the mean Declaration lady's behind you." He stammers. I get onto my knees and make my way away from the window so Abigail doesn't see me in the van.

Ben and Abigail chat until the alarms go off. "Damn." I hiss. "Oh my God!" Riley mumbles.

"So much for in-and-out." I mumble. "GO!" Ben get in.

"We can't just let her go!" Riley snaps. "We can! Go!" I say. I see my Dad's truck. "No!" I scream. Abigail stops as the men grab her. Ben gets out.

"Riley, do you care about the window?" I ask. Riley looks at me. "Duck." I aim my gun and shoot. I hit the truck but break the window. Phil shoots at the van. I duck. "Go, go!" Ben yells.

"But…" Riley moans as he goes after Dad's truck. The FBI sirens go off as we leave, just in time. I don't want to talk to anyone about tonight. "What do we do when we catch up to them?" Riley asks.

"Stilling working on it." Riley turns his van as the car in front of us. We go off road a bit. Suddenly, we see Abigail hanging off the truck. "Oh, no." Ben says.

"Holy Lord."

"Crap." I hiss. Shaw shoots at the van. I aim but Ben stops me. Ben opens the sliding door. "Get me next to her." Riley does what Ben asks. A bus comes back between us. I hear Abigail scream.

"Abigail!" Ben yells. Abigail jumps into Ben's arms as Shaw starts to shoot again. Riley does a quick left turn as I close the door.

"Are you all right?" Ben asks. "No! Those lunatics…" Abigail yells.

"You're not hurt, are you?" I ask. "You are all lunatics!" Abigail yells.

"You hungry?"

"What?" Abigail says. "Are you all right?" He asks again.

"Still a little on edge from being shot at, but I'll be OK! Thanks for asking." Riley rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well I'm not all right. Those men have the Declaration of Independence!" Abigail snaps.

"She lost it?" Riley gasps. Ben grabs the tube from its hiding place. "They don't have it." Ben opens the tube. "See? OK? Now could you please stop shouting?" Abigail attempts to grab the document but Ben pulls it away.

"Give me that!" She shouts. "You're still shouting. It's starting to annoy. You'd do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance." Ben takes a seat next to Riley.

"If this is the real one, what did they get?" She asks. "A souvenir." I smirk. "That Carmen Asher was very sweet."

"Who were those men?" She asks. "One was my Dad." She sighs.

"We did the only thing we could do to keep it safe." Ben says. "Verdammt! Give me that!" Abigail shouts.

"You know something? Your shouting again." Ben says. "And swearing. Verdammt means damn."

"Well, we probably deserve that." Ben says.

* * *

><p>"There's not a treasure map in the back of the Declaration of Independence." Abigail sighs. "And there's no chance anyone can steal this either." Ben shake the tube. "I level with you 100 percent. Everything I told you was the truth."<p>

"I want that document, Mr. Brown." Abigail snaps. "OK, my name's not Brown. It's Gates. I level with you 98 percent." Ben says.

"Wait a minute, did you just say "Gates"? Gates? You're that family with the conspiracy theory about the Founding Fathers?" Abigail says.

"It's not a conspiracy theory." Ben says. "Per se." Riley mumbles.

"You know what? I take it back. You're not liars. You're insane." Abigail says. I roll my eyes. "Me too?" I ask. Abigail nods.

* * *

><p>"You can't seriously intend to run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence in the back of a moving van." Abigail says. "We have a clean-room environment all set up. EDS suits, a particulate air filtration system, the whole shebang." Riley says.<p>

"Really?" I nod but sigh. "We can't go back there."

"Why not?" Riley asks. I explain what happened. "A credit-card slip? Dude, we're on the grid. They'll have your record from forever. They'll have my records from forever. They already have Raven's records!" Riley snaps. "I know, I know. It's only a matter of minutes before the FBI shows up at my front door." Ben says.

"What do we do?" Riley asks. "We need those letters." Ben says.

"What letters?" Abigail asks. "You know, get off the road, take a right." Ben says. Riley turns the car.

"What letters?"


	5. Father Son Moment

Chapter Five: Father Son Moment

**Sorry it took SO long to get this up. Irene was part of it because I didn't have internet until the beginning of September. I know that's not a very good excuse but I also wasn't in the mood to write about National Treasure. The next chapter may or may not be up tonight, depends on if I feel like writing more today!**

Riley takes us to a nearby park allowing us to finally get out of the van for a bit. I sit in the grass while Riley leans out the passengers side of the van. Abigail sits with the door open as Ben paces in front of us. "You have the original Silence Dogood letters? Did you steal those, too?" Abigail asks. "There scans of the originals. Quiet, please." Ben says.

"How'd you get scans?"

"I know the person who has the original. Now shush." Ben says. I roll my eyes. "Why do you need them?" Abigail breaks the silence.

"She really can't shut her mouth, can she?" Ben turns to me and Riley. I shrug and smirk at her. "Tell you what, look. I will let you hold onto this if you promise to shut up, please. Thank you." Ben hands the document over to Abigail. I rest my head on the car door, hoping that was a good idea. Abigail does what Ben asks her too. For once.

"Ben, you know what you have to do." Riley groans. "I know what to do. I'm just trying to think of anything else we could do." Ben says.

"Well, not to be a, uh, nudge, but you do realize how many people we have after us." Riley says. "We probably have our own satellite by now." I mumble. I look up at Riley, who nods. Ben goes back to pacing in front of us again.

"Ben, it took you all of two seconds to decided to steal the Declaration of Independence." I say. "Yeah, but I didn't think I was gonna personally have to tell my dad about it!" Ben snaps at me. Abigail makes a run for it. "Hey, not cool! Not cool!" Ben run after her and grabs the document. Riley quickly opens the car door open. I fall in the process and glare at him.

"Let me go!" Abigail yells. "OK. You're let go. Go, shoo." Ben says.

Abigail grabs the document. "I'm not going. Not without the Declaration." Ben pulls the document back which meant he pulled Abigail closer to him. I got up and stare at Riley. He shrugs.

"You're not going _with _the Declaration." Ben says. "Yes, I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight, so I'm going." Abigail says.

"Wait. You're not going with us with the Declaration."

"Yes, I am." Abigail says. "No, you're not." Ben says.

Abigail looks sweetly at Ben. "Look, if you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going." I close my eyes and sigh. I open them and see Riley lean his head back against the car with a groan. Abigail is right about that. Way, to go Ben. We all file into the van again to head to Ben's father place. We arrive at the house, no cops or FBI yet. That's a good sign but that doesn't mean they aren't coming. "Looks safe." Riley says.

"Park a couple of blocks away." Ben says. "How long do you think we've got?" I ask.

"I'm giving them a couple of hours at least…" Ben say. "I hope." I hear him mumble. I sigh.

"What do we do about her? I've got some duct tape in the back." I punch Riley's shoulder. "You, shut up!" I hiss. Riley glares at me.

"No, that won't be necessary. She won't be any trouble. Promise you won't be any trouble." Ben asks. I heard Abigail groan. "I promise." She mumbles.

"See? She's curious." Abigail looks at Ben and shakes her head. Riley turns to the left and parks a couple of blocks away. I grab the duct tape, just in case before exiting the van. I take my belongings with me just in case the cops find the van. I don't want them to know I was there.

* * *

><p>Ben rings the doorbell to his father's house. The door opens within a minute. "Dad."<p>

"Where's the party?" He asks. I look at myself, I'm not happy that I'm still in this dress. I need out, hopefully I'm able to change soon. "Uh, well, uh…I'm in a little trouble." Ben says. I rub my arms in the cold wind since it is like almost 11. Riley takes off his hoodie and puts it on my shoulders. I smile at him.

"Is she pregnant?" Ben's Dad asks. I look up and wonder if he's talking about me or Abigail. I'm guessing Abigail since she's in a more puffy dress than me. "Well, if she is, are you going to leave the woman carrying your grandchild standing out in the cold?" Riley, Abigail, and I look at her stomach.

"I look pregnant?" Abigail whispers. Riley shakes his head. I roll my eyes. Ben's Dad allows us in. I think his father's name is Patrick, but I'm not exactly sure. We go into the living room. Wow, its nice.

"Well, have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable. There's some pizza. It's still warm, I think." Finally, good food. Not that crap at the Gala. I take a piece of extra cheese pizza.

"Dad…I need the Silence Dogood Letters. Yeah, it's about the treasure." Ben says. "And he dragged you three into this nonsense?" Patrick asks.

"Literally."

"I had to be a part of it. My Dad is involved." I say. "I volunteered." Riley says.

"Well, unvolunteer, before you waste your life." Patrick says.

"Knock it off, Dad." Ben says. "Sure, sure, I know, I'm the family kook. I have a job, a house, health insurance. At least i had your mother, for however brief of time. At least I had you. What do you have? Him?" Patrick points to Riley, who took a piece of pizza without me noticing. I look at Riley with a mouth full of food. I roll my eyes.

"Look, if you just give us the letters, we're gone." Ben says.

"You disappoint me, Ben." Patrick says. "Maybe that's the real Gates-family legacy. Sons who disappoint their fathers." Ben snaps.

"Get out. Take your troubles with you." He says. "I found the _Charlotte._" Ben says. Patrick face lights up and he looks at his son.

"The _Charlotte_? You mean she was a ship?" Patrick asks. "Yeah, Dad. She was beautiful." Ben says. I start to shuffle through my bag that I hid in Riley's car. Where's my camera?

"And the treasure?"

"No, no. But we found another clue that led us here." Ben says. "And that will lead you to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find, is another clue. Don't you get it, Ben? I finally figured it out. The legend says that the treasure was buried to keep it from the British. But what really happened was the legend was invented, to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth." I gasp at Ben's father.

"Its not a myth, Mr. Gates!" I snap. Ben puts a finger up to shut me up. I know I shouldn't have said that but the treasure is real. I can feel it. "Well, you can believe what you want." Patrick says. I glare at him.

"He's probably right. You don't even know if there is another clue." Abigail says.

"Well, I can think of a way where we could find out. And we can find out right now." Ben says.


	6. Lemons and Letters

Chapter Six: Lemons and Letters

**Maybe another one tomorrow, but I'm done for the day. I still have 54 minutes left in the movie since I'm watching the movie with the subtitles up. So, enjoy until tomorrow afternoon or evening! **

Ben and Abigail got the supplies to make the "map" visible to the naked eye. Lemons and Q-tips. I wonder why the lemons come into this part but I didn't ask since Ben was already annoying with his father. Ben took out the document in the kitchen. We surrounded the dinning room table, I saw Patrick out of the corner of my eye looking at the table. I think he wanted to help but didn't want to show it. I guess Mr. Gates is proud of his son, he just don't want to show it or can't show it. "Looks like animal skin. How old is it?" He asks. Everyone looks up. "At least 200 years."Ben says. I put some gloves on to make sure I don't touch the document because of the chemicals on my fingers.

"Really? You sure?" Patrick asks.

"Pretty darn."

"Now if this thing's in invisible ink, how do we look at it?" Riley asks. I wondered that exact question. "Throw is in the oven." Patrick suggests. Everyone including myself protest.

"Ferrous sulfate inks can only be brought out with heat." I nod, I guess I did know how the map was supposed to be shown but not with the oven. "Yes, but this is…" Abigail starts. "It's very old!" I snap at her. She was about to say the Declaration of Independence.

"It's very old and we can't risk compromising the map." Ben says. "You need a reagent." Patrick mumbles.

"Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?" Ben asks. "I'm fine." Patrick yells from the kitchen. God, this is going to be a very night.

"Lemons." Ben whispers. Riley hands over the bowl of sliced lemons. Ben takes the bowl and takes a lemon. He goes to rub the lemon on the document but Abigail stops him. "You can't do that." Abigail says.

"But it has to be done." Ben says. "Then someone who is trained to handle antique documents is going to do it." Abigail says. Ben gives in and allows Abigail to do her work. Ben gives her the lemon he had. "Now, uh, if there is a secret message, it'll probably be marked by a symbol in the upper right-hand corner." Abigail takes a Q-tip out of the cup.

"That's right." Ben says as Abigail wipes the Q-tip in the lemon to get the lemon juice on it. I watch the whole experience between them. "I'm so getting fired for this." Everyone lean into the table to see the action that was about to happen. Abigail hesitates before wiping the juice on the corner of the document. We wait and wait and wait until nothing appears on the corner. I sigh, I guess the treasure isn't real after all.

"I told you. You need heat." Patrick says. I jump when I heard his voice. Abigail and Ben both exhale at the same time. Some numbers and a picture appear and disappear. I smile at the paper in front of me. I look at Riley with a glimmer in my eyes. Riley smiles at me. I feel my cheek burn red. "See?"

Abigail and Ben looks at each other. "We need more juice." Ben says. "We need more heat." Ben and Abigail grab everything they need, lemons and a blow dryer.

* * *

><p>Ben writes down the numbers as Abigail uses the blow dryer to make them visible. I notice Patrick has entered the room, watching us. "Its not a map. Is it?" Riley says. "More clues. What a surprise." Patrick says.<p>

"Are those latitudes and longitudes?" Riley asks. "That's why we need the Silence Dogood letters." Ben says.

"That's the key?" Abigail asks. "Yeah. "The key in Silence undetected." Dad, can we have the letters now?" Ben asks.

"Will somebody please explain to me what these magic numbers are?" Riley mumbles. "Riley, its an Ottendoft cipher." I smile. My history is coming in handy.

"That's right."

"Oh, Ok. What's an Ottendoft cipher?" Riley asks. "Your clueless. Each of these three numbers corresponds to a word in a key." I point towards the numbers that Ben has written down. "Usually a random book or newspaper article. Or in our case the Silence Dogood letters." Riley nods. Riley still doesn't understand. "Its like the page number of the key text, the line on the page, and the letter in that line." Riley nods, I think he understands now.

"So, Dad, where are the letters?" Ben asks.

"You know, its by sheer happenstance that his grandfather…" Patrick says. "Dad."

"…even found them. They were in an antique desk from the press room…" I sigh, i know what's coming next. "Dad."

"…of _The New England Courant._That's a newspaper." Patrick finally finishes his fact. "Dad, where are the letters?" Ben asks.

"I don't have them, son." Patrick says. "What?" Ben asks.

"I don't have them." Patrick repeats. Ben sits down in the chair and pulls off the gloves. "Where are they?" Ben asks.

"I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia." Patrick says. "Time to go!" I snap. Every starts to get ready to go.

"I still can't believe it. All this time no one knew what was on the back." Abigail says. "On the of what?" Patrick asks.

"No!" I scream. Patrick looks at the front of the Declaration and his eyes widen. "Oh my God. Oh my God." Patrick mumbles.

"I know."

"Oh my God. What have you done? This is…this is the…" Patrick mumbles. "I know." Ben says.

"This is the Declaration of Independence." Patrick says. "Yes. And it's very delicate." Abigail says taking the document from Patrick.

"You stole it?" Riley points towards Ben. Riley goes to point at me but I raise an eyebrow. "Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time. I was necessary. And you saw the cipher." Ben says.

"And that will lead to another clue, and that will lead to another clue! There is no treasure. I wasted 20 years of my life. And now you've destroyed yours. And you pulled me into all this." Patrick says. "Well, we can't have that." Ben says. I pull out the duct tape I took from Riley's car and smirk.

* * *

><p>Ben stole his father's car, I was in the back with Riley. Riley was lying on my lap. "Your Dad's got a sweet ride." Riley mumbles.<p>

"I think we should change clothes." Ben says. I look down at myself and nod. "We look kind of conspicuous, don't you think?"

"I'd love to go shopping, too, but we have no money." Riley mumbles. I mess with his hair and smirk. "Here, I took this from his house." Ben drops a book in Abigail's lap. "He usually tucks a few hundred dollars somewhere between those pages."

"_Common Sense._ How appropriate." Abigail says. I chuckle. "When are we gonna get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird." Riley says.

I feel Riley shift on my lap. I roll my eyes and try to get some sleep before we go to Philadelphia.

* * *

><p>Once we arrive in Philadelphia, we go our separate ways. Riley and I go to a store and get our new outfits. I took over $300 before Ben and Abigail noticed. We head towards Express. Riley gets a simple pair of jeans, a dark purplish hoodie and basic graphic tee. I go all out, I brought a pair of acid-wash jeans, a pair of heeled boots, a basic tank to match Riley and a black hoodie. The total came to over $300 but I had some extra cash on me. Riley and I headed towards the Franklin Institute. I recruit a little boy who is about 10 to do our dirty work. He was on a field trip with his class. I used my charm on the teacher to let the student work with us and just have the assignment done the next day. Riley and I sit down at a bunch outside the Institute as the kid runs back and forth with the letters we need.<p>

"S-S-A-N-D." He says. Riley take the piece of paper. "You're sure this is right?" Riley asks. The kid looks at Riley.

"Riley, come on. That's getting very annoying." I mumble. Riley glares. I watch as Riley writes the letters. "No, N." The kid says.

"That is an N." Riley says. "Riley that looks like a lowercase R. Fix it, please." I say.

"Here. Last one." The kid takes the dollar we're been bribing him with. "Thank you." The kid runs off to get the last four letters.

"Go get 'em, chief. Come on." Riley says. I take the paper from Riley and think about the quote. "So, 'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of pass and…". "Pass and…" what?" I mumble. I think about the quote. Where have I heard this quote from? Something I learned in class. A bus stops in front of us. I look at the bus and see the Liberty Bell. I jump up from the bunch and pull Riley with me. "Come on, we need to go Urban Outfitters!" Riley and I run to Urban Outfitters where Abigail and Ben are getting different outfits for treasure hunting.

"What's going on Raven?" Riley asks. "The Liberty Bell!" I say as we run up the stairs to the store. We see Ben and Abigail checking out.

"Did you get it?" Ben asks. "Oh, we got it." Riley says.

"'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow.'" I smile. "That refers to…" Riley starts.

"The Liberty Bell." The three of us say. I smirk at Riley. I wonder how long it will take he to figure out that I actually like him. I thought after everything we did today I thought he would find me interested him. "Why do you have to do that?" Riley snaps.

"I'm the one who told you that." I roll my eyes. "And John Pass and John Stow cast the bell." Abigail says.

"Then, what does the rest of this mean?" Riley asks. "Wait…'The vision to see the treasured past' must refer to a way to read the map." Ben says. I rub my temples.

"Okay, I'm confused I thought the cipher was the way to read the map." I ask. "It is." Ben says. I look at Riley, still confused but I'm following unlike him.

"And the way to read the map can be found where the "timely shadow" crosses in front of the Liberty Bell." Abigail says. "Crosses in front of the "house" of the Liberty Bell. Independence Hall." Ben says.

"So, 'timely shadow'-it's a specific time." I say. "What time?" Riley asks.

"What time? What time?" Ben says. A smile forms on him. "Wait a minute, wait. You're going to love this." Ben says. He walks over to the cashier. "Excuse me, can I see one of those hundred-dollar bills I paid you with?"

"No." The cashier says dryly. I'm guessing this is the only job she could get. Ben is taken back by that. "Oh. Well, uh, here, I have this diver's watch. It's called a Submariner. I dive with it. It's actually quite valuable. You can use it as collateral." The cashier isn't interested in this watch or with Ben. "Whatever." She takes out the hundred.

"On the back of a hundred-dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall based on a painting done in…" Ben starts. "Hello." The cashier snaps. Ben takes the money. "Thank you." I say.

"…in the 1780s, who…The artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin. It's wonderful." Ben says. "Fascinating." The clerk rolls her eyes.

"Hold this." Ben hands over the document to Abigail. "Okay." Ben gives her a look. "I'm not going anywhere." She smiles.

"I think that if we look at this clock tower…we may find the specific time." Ben says as he looks through the water bottle to see the time. "What do you see?" Abigail asks.

"2:22." Ben says. "What time is it now?" I ask.

"Almost 3." The girl says. "Damn, we missed it." I mumble.

"No, we didn't. We didn't miss it because…uh…" The three of us look at Riley. I blink my eyes at him because he knows something about history that Ben, Abigail and I don't know. That's a shock. "You don't know this? I-I know something about history that you don't know." Riley smiles.

"I'd be very excited to learn about it, Riley." Ben says. "Hold on one second, let me just…let me just take in this moment. This is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Because, you know…Except for now, of course." Riley stammers.

"Riley!" I snap. "Alright. What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War l. If it's 3PM now, OK, that means in 1776, it would be 2PM." Riley smiles.

"Riley, you're a genius." I kiss his cheek and walk away with Abigail. The men follow. "Do you actually know who the first person to suggest daylight saving was?" Riley asks.

"Benjamin Franklin." Abigail and Ben say. I watch Riley throw a fit and walks down the stairs. I pat his shoulder. "You were up against two history buffs, Riley." Riley shakes his head. I think about how far my Dad has gotten without me by his side. He's probably here and following us. I better be careful.

* * *

><p>When we arrive at the Independence Hall, "taking" a tour and take our own tour. We walk over a sign that prohibits as to go over. We walk up to the bell, the Centennial Bell. "What bell is this?" Riley asks.<p>

"It's the Centennial Bell, replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876." I say. We wait a moment and see the cross hit a brick. "There it is." Abigail says.

"Alright, I'm going to go down there, and you meet me in the signing room." Ben says. Abigail nods. "Alright, let's go." Abigail says. Riley looks out the bell tower and smiles. "3:22. My idea."

"Of course it was." I smirk. Riley rolls his eyes. We walk down the stair and back into the signing room. Another tour shouldn't be starting yet. I look around outside to get some air when I see Victor and Phil with their backs to the door. My mouth hangs open. I felt a hand on my shoulder, I jump. "You okay?" Riley asks.

"Uh, yeah. I was in deep thought." I lie to him. We walk into the signing room, waiting for Ben to arrive back with what he scored.


	7. Figuring Things Out

Chapter Seven: Figuring Things Out

**This would have been up last night but I just didn't get the chance too. Plus, I wanted to make this part the best! One, its one of my favorite scenes in the movie. Two, I love have Raven pushed into this scene. Three, its making one of my reviewers…very, very, VERY happy! The next chapter should be up soon. It done, just needs the final touches and then its good. **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! I did! **

Ben arrives with what he scored. "What'd you find?" I ask. He pulls out a pair of glasses. "I found this. Some kind of ocular device. 'The vision to see the treasured past.' Let me take this." Ben hands the glasses over to Riley and take the Declaration.

"They're like early American X-ray specs." Riley says. "Benjamin Franklin invented something like these." Abigail says.

"Uh…I think he invented these." Ben says. The three of us shake our heads. "So, what do we do with them?" Riley asks.

"We look through them." I say. Riley holds up the glasses to his eyes. "Here, help me." Abigail says to Riley. I take the glasses from Riley while he helps Abigail and Ben unroll the document from its protection sleeve.

"Careful." Ben whispers. "Seriously?" I ask. Ben glares at me.

"Just stating a point." I smirk. Riley chuckles and Abigail rolls her eyes. Ben stops rolling when he gets to John Hancock's name and sighs, happily. "What?" Riley asks.

"It's just that the last time this was here, it was being signed." Ben smiles. I smile back but we need to get this over with. "Ben, there's another tour coming. Let's hurry up." I say.

"Turn it over." Ben says. "Spectacles." I hand over the specs to Ben, he puts them on and gasps. "What do you see?" Abigail asks.

"What is it? Is it a treasure map?" Riley asks when doesn't respond to Abigail. "It says, 'Heere at the wall,' spelled with two E's. Take a look." I grab the glasses first and look and see what Ben saw. I hand the glasses to Abigail, Riley tries to take them but fails. I smirk. Abigail gasps. "Wow."

"Why can't they just say, 'Go to this place, and here's the treasure, spend it wisely?'" Riley mumbles. Ben looks out the window. "Oh, no." I turn and see Shippen walk past the window with his hands in his pockets.

I run over to the window with Riley. "How'd they find us?" I look down at my feet. and remember something. "Dammit." I hiss. I break the necklace off my neck and slam it on the ground.

"There's one way but also my Dad is very smart and unlimited resources." I say.

"You had a tracking device?" Riley snaps. "I never knew why my Dad gave me a necklace, I just thought it was my Mum's, you idiot." I snap back.

"Stop blaming her, Riley. She didn't know her father was here." I look at me and fake a smile. "You knew?" Abigail says.

"I saw Shippen and Phil before when Riley scared me." Riley turns to me and rolls his eyes. "I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted." I mumble.

"Well, we don't want them to have the Declaration, or the glasses. But we especially don't want them to have them both together." Ben says as he rolls up the Declaration. "So what do we do?" Riley asks.

"We separate the lock from the key. We're splitting up." Ben says. "Good idea." Abigail says.

"Really?" I say. How is that a good idea? I mean, their be on my tail in no time flat. "Ben, seriously? How is that a good idea? I mean, if they see me, I'm dead." I say. Ben nods. "Wow, really?" Ben shrugs.

"Then I'm going with Riley." I say. Riley stares at me. "I'll take this." Ben takes the empty container. "And those. You keep that. Meet me at the car and call me if you have any problems." Ben takes the glasses and we keep the Declaration.

"Like if we get caught and killed?" Riley asks. "Yeah, Riley. That would be a big problem. Take care of her." Ben says.

"I will." Riley, Abigail, and I look at each other. Time to escape my father's gang. The three of us walk out of Independence Hall with the Declaration which Abigail was in charge of. "Let's walk this way." I say. Abigail and I walk to the left. "Wait up!" Riley says.

I hear Shaw's voice yell, "Look out! Look out!" I turn and stop my friends. "Guys!" I yell. Shaw sees me. "There they are! Move!" Viktor is with him. I grab their arms and move through the crowd of people on the street. We push through people. Riley grabs my hand and Abigail's to make us ran faster than Shaw and Viktor. We go into a farmer's market. "Come on!" I yell. I jump down the center while Riley and Abigail go two opposite ways. I sigh and make my way through the people, I see Shaw run to find Abigail. I look up from what I was pretending to look at and see Viktor, I gasp and start running again. "God, this is the most excitement I've had all day." I chuckle to myself. I find myself around some teens that are looking at clothing and accessories. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Viktor running through the crowd, not seeing me thank God. I buy some sunglasses and put them on. I run to find Riley, I see him and hug him tight.

"My God! I thought I lost you." I whisper. Riley holds onto me. My eyes widen when I see Viktor again. "Seriously! Can't I lose this guy!" I think of something, without telling Riley the plan. I kiss him and pretend I'm kissing my boyfriend. I open my let eyes quickly. Viktor isn't there anymore. I close my eye and keep kissing Riley. Riley wraps his arms around my lower back. I break the kiss as I gasp for air. I look around to see if anyone I knew was in the area. I see Abigail leaning in with the flowers, looking outside. Riley and I go over to her. I tap her shoulder. She yelps in surprise. "Shh!" I hiss.

"Where were you two?" She whispers. "Finding, duh." I say.

"Come on. Let's go, let's go." We escape the farmer's market. "City Hall, let's go! That's the quickest way to the car!" I say. I run between cars that honk at us. I see Shaw in the window. "Come on!" I yell.

We see City Hall in front of us. We try to cross a busy street, cars honk at us when we get in the way. We try to make our way through City Hall, but there are too many people in suits walking around. Abigail and I run beside the group that was coming towards us. Riley gets stuck. Abigail turns to Riley, she runs into a cyclist. She falls and the document flies out of her hand. A car goes passed it but doesn't damage it. Abigail goes to get the document but I get to it first. A large truck honks at me. I stop like a deer in a headlight. I feel someone grab my arm and pull me to safety. I look at the person, its my father.

"Dad." I mumble. "Good luck, Raven." I sigh and look at my friends. They gasp as Dad takes the document out of my hands. He pushes me into the road and Riley catches me before I fall. Dad opens the plastic container with the Declaration in it and smiles. We hear Viktor and Shaw shout through the crowd. Riley helps me stand up along with Abigail. We run down the street to get away from Dad and his men. We don't turn back to them. I run next to Riley, holding his hand.

* * *

><p>I take out my phone and call Ben, I put it on speaker. <em>"What?"<em>

"We lost it." Riley says.

_"What?"_

"We lost the Declaration. Ian took it."

_"Yeah, uh, OK. You all right? The three of us all right?"_

"Yeah, Ben. We're all right. Ben, I'm sorry its me fault." I say.

_"We'll be fine. Meet me at the car." _ I hang up on Ben and stare at my friends. "Guys, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." I say.

"Its not your fault, Raven. We should have known Ian was close by." Abigail says. I nod. "I still feel bad though." I say. Riley puts his arm around my shoulder and I smile at him.

* * *

><p>We turn a corner and see Ben being arrested by the FBI, I turn around and walk back. Abigail and Riley do the same. We go by a nearby park, Riley has his head in his hands, thinking. Abigail is pacing back and forth behind the bench. I stand in front of the fountain. "Riley, do you know how to get in touch with Ian?" Abigail asks. I turn to her and understand what she's doing. "Excuse me?" Riley asks.<p>

"I have a way to contact him." I say. I pull out my phone and dial my Dad's number.

_"Raven, what do you want?" _

"We need help to get Ben out of FBI custody."

_"Well, I think I can do that but what's in in for me?"_

I look at my friends and sigh. "You can have the treasure." Riley gasps. I cover the phone speaker. "Its the only way he can help us." I say. Abigail nods, agreeing with me.

_"Okay, we have a deal, Raven. One more thing."_

"What exactly am I supposed to do?" I listen to my father and close my eyes and sigh. "I'll do it."

_"Good. See you soon." _My hear a dial tone and sigh. "What happened?" Abigail asks.

"Something I'm going to regret soon." I tell them the plan that I came up with. New York City.

"We need to go to New York City. 'Heere at the wall' Wall Street and Broadway. There's where we going to meet Dad and Ben." I say. "There's more." Riley says.

"Of course there is, but I'll tell you that plan later." I say.


	8. Heere at the Wall and Broadway

Chapter Eight: Heere At The Wall and Broadway

**Look another chapter! I'm chapter nine right now so look for that. I might finish this before the day is over because I'm signing off for VAMPIRE DIARIES! Off topic but I will probably finish this tomorrow and start the second one. Sorry that its short!**

Riley, Abigail, and I sit in a wifi access coffee shop. Riley is tracking the car that's picking up Ben from the river. My tea arrives and I smile at the cute worker. "Thanks." I say. Riley clears his throat. "What Riley?"

"We need to talk about that kiss." He says. I roll my eyes and drink my tea. "Riley, just because I kissed you doesn't mean I felt anything. It was the first thing that came to mind before Viktor found us." I say. Abigail comes over to me. I pull out my cell phone when we see Dad across the street from where we're hiding. _"Hello?"_

"Shaw put him on." Abigail snaps.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey buddy. How's you day going?" Ben was expecting Abigail. "Ben, say Abigail. I'm not supposed to talk to you."

_"Uh, interesting, Abigail. So, what, you working with Ian?"_

"We had to get you out of FBI custody, of course. Dad is the only criminal we knew so I call and made a deal."

_"Well, you're, um…You're…you're…you're all right, yeah? I mean you're safe?" _

"Yes Ben, we all are. Abigail is safe too. Riley's right next to me, doing clever things with a computer."

"I'm tracking him through the…Hey!" I put the phone to Riley's ear. "I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want, we'll know it. So don't worry."

I pull the phone away from Riley. "If Dad tries to double-cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And where to find him."

_"And where is that?"_

"Right across the street from where we're hiding, at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."

_"You figured out the clue."_

"Well, duh. I'm in my 4th year of college, I should know this by now. Plus, it was simple. 'Heere at the wall.' Wall Street and Broadway." I sigh before continuing. "Ben, there is a catch. I made my Dad believe he could have the treasure and that I betray you and everyone. It was the only way we could get this far. Now when you see me, pretend I'm betraying everyone, including you."

"He's here." Riley says. I hang up and Ben, handing the phone over to Abigail. I look at my purse, pull the gun out and put it behind my back. I cover it with my tank and hoodie. I nod to them and leave the coffee shop. "Here we go." I mumble. I run across the street between cars and stand next to my father. "Ben." Ben turns to us. "You alright? No broken bones? A jump like that could kill a man." Dad says. "Naw, it was cool. You should try it sometime." I felt a smile come on, Dad looks over his shoulder and glares.

"Now, now Gates. Play nice." I roll my eyes. "The Declaration of Independence. And the meerschaum pipe. All yours." Dad says.

"That's it?" He asks. "That's it." I smirk. Ben looks at me and nods.

"I knew you'd keep your promise. Now, where is it? Where's my treasure?" Dad asks. "It's right here. The map said 'Heere are the wall,' spelled with two E's. Wall Street follows the path of an actual wall that original Dutch settlers built as a defense to keep the British out. The main gate was located at a street called De Heere, also two E's. Later De Heere Street was renamed Broadway after the British got in. So, 'Heere at the wall.' Broadway, Wall Street." Ben says pointing to the signed. "Cheerio." Ben attempts a English accent. I have to give him credit on the accent, its damn close to how Dad speaks. Ben takes the document and the pipe, he goes to walk away but Dad stops him.

"Just a moment, Ben." Dad says. "Ian, if you break out deal, the FBI will be only a few minutes behind you. You might get away, you might not. Same for Raven." Damn, i didn't think of that part if I'm supposed to betray Ben, Abigail, and Riley. I rub my forehead.

"Is that all the map said?" Dad asks. "Every word." Ben says.

"Oh, Ben. You know the key to running a convincing bluff? Every once in a while you've got to be holding all the cards." The three of us turn towards Viktor. He opens the door to a black car, we see Patrick Gates tied up with duct tape. "This isn't part of the plan, Dad. You said no one was going to be kidnapped!" I snap.

"That's before I found out you were lying to me!" Dad snaps. I look down and sigh. Dad lifts my face up and smirks. I close my eyes and get ready for what was about to happen. He smacks my cheek but not as hard as I expected. I fell to the ground in defend. My Dad had his hand open for my gun. I took my gun out from behind my back, handing it over to him. "Now, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"Trinity Church. We have to go inside Trinity Church." Ben says. He had to give Dad the next clue, maybe something will work out for everyone. Let's hope.

"Good. Excellent. Well, why don't you ask Dr. Chase and Riley to join us, Raven? You know where they are." I look at my father and glare. I get up from the sidewalk and crossing the street again. Viktor has them already in custody, I look at Riley and sigh. He pulls me into a hug. Shippen pulls me off him and pushes towards the church. Once inside Riley, Abigail, and I sit down in the back with Shippen and Viktor behind us. I see Patrick sitting next to Shaw and Phil behind him. I watch as Ben and Dad looking at the map on the back of the Declaration. I'm not listening to a word Ben and Dad are talking about until 'Beneath Parkington Lane'. Parkington Lane was a master mason.

* * *

><p>Shaw finds a door and pushes us in one by one. I was pushed in first then Riley with a guy between us. I need to talk to Riley. I look over my shoulder at him, Shippen pushes me front. I smack into Shaw. "Sorry." I mumble Shaw just glares. I finally get away from the guys and find Riley and Abigail looking at tomb markers. "Hey! Par…Hey, I found it! Him!" Riley shouts.<p>

"Ben!" I yell looking at the marker. I take out my camera before anything happens to him. "Its a name." Dad says.

"Parkington Lane. He was a third-degree master mason of the Blue Lo…" I start when I see a hammer coming towards my face. I duck and Riley pulls me away. "Hey! Stop!" I shout. All the men pull out the coffin when the skeleton falls from the bottom. I gasp and hold onto Riley.

"Careful no one steps in him." Shippen says. Everyone looks into the tunnel, its dark and creepy. Awesome. "Okay. Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley asks. "I will." I say. Everyone looks at me.

"That's a good idea, go ahead Raven. McGregor, Viktor you stay here. And if anyone should come out without me, well…use your imagination." Dad smiles. I take Shaw's flashlight and go into the tunnel first. Ben and Dad follow close behind.


	9. Holy Crap!

Chapter Nine: Holy Crap!

**Second to final chapter! I've really enjoyed finishing off this story! I hope you have too! I will be starting the next one soon! I promise! **

I come out and Ben grabs a torch and Dad lights it. Ben and Dad go first with a small step. "Careful." Ben says to my Dad as he steps down.

"Watch your step." Patrick looks at his son. I step down and smile at Ben, he smiles back. I wait for Riley and I hug him. We turn to Ben and Abigail when Ben kisses Abigail. I smile at them. Riley and I hold hands as we walk down a staircase and down multiple of dark tunnels until we come upon a rickety old support system. I step over the whole where the wood broke. "Its a chandler." Ben says. Ben touches the chandler with the torch and fire goes into it. Ben puts the chandler in the center of the room. Finally, some light.

"Wow."

"Look at the elevators." Ben says. "A dumbwaiter system." Patrick says.

"How do a bunch of quays with hand tools build all this?" Shippen asks. "Same way they built the pyramids and the Great Wall of China." I say.

"Yeah, the aliens helped them." Riley says. I roll my eyes.

"Right, let's go. What are we waiting for?" Dad says. "I'm not going out on that thing. 200 years of termite damage and rot." Patrick protects.

"Mr. Gates, we don't have choose." I say. Patrick sighs and nods. Patrick steps slowing on the aging wood. He steps on a piece of wood and it falls off. "Watch your step."

"We're right under the Trinity graveyard. That's probably why no one ever found it." Patrick says. The place starts to rumble above us. Dust falls. "What is that?" Riley asks.

"Subway." I say. Shaw takes a step and he falls to his death. "Shaw! Oh, God, Shaw!" Dad yells. I cover my mouth, trying not to scream. Riley pulls me close to him as tears formed. As much as I hated him, I didn't want him to die like that.

"Oh my God." Abigail mumbles. The wood underneath my feet starts to break. Riley jumps off and onto the next steps."Hold on! Hold on!" I scream. I get ready to jump but I lose my footing. I start to fall, I grab on to the steps and try to get myself up. Shippen jumps onto a level system. "Ben! Grab my hand!" Abigail yells. I get myself back up to safety. Ben, Abigail, and I get on a different level system. I climb over the railing, getting ready to jump. Patrick jumps onto the level system with Shippen. Shippen is nice enough not to let him fall. Dad jumps and almost doesn't make it. Ben goes to hand Riley the Declaration when our level system breaks. I jump right before we pass where Riley is. Riley catches me but in the process he smacks his head into the wooden stair. I bite my lip when we stand up.

"You okay?" I ask. He nods as he rubs it. I take his hand and we make our way to Ben and Abigail who are know hanging from their support system. "Riley, we need to get down there!" I say. We try not to run to get to our friends. Ben lets go off Abigail, slamming onto the wood platform. "Holy crap!" I scream as ben starts to fall off the Ben grabs the Declaration, he tries to hold onto the wood but one breaks when he tries to pull himself up. Patrick lowers a rope and Ben swings to safety. Abigail goes to him. I meet up with them.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I dropped you. I had to save the Declaration." Ben says. "No, don;t be. I would have done the exact same thing to you." Abigail says.

Ben stares at her. "Really?" Ben says. I'm surprised too but I think Abigail is starting to fall for him, ever since that kiss that only happened a little bit ago. Riley walks down the stairs. "I would have dropped you both." He says. "Freaks." I glare at Riley when the elevator is lowered by Shippen.

"Get on." Dad snaps. "Ian…it's not worth it." Ben says.

"Do you imagine any one of your lives is more valuable to me than Shaw's? We go on." Dad says. I gasp. "What about me?" I ask.

"Your still my daughter, Raven but I can never forgive you for taking Ben's side." Dad says. I nod, sadly.

"The status quo. Keep the status quo." Patrick mumbles.

* * *

><p>We come across an opening. "Now what?" Riley asks. "This is…This is where it all leads." Patrick says. Ben throws a rope over some wood sticking up from the floor. He pulls the elevator closer to the edge so we don't have to jump from the elevator to the ground. "OK. Let's go." Ben takes the torch from Abigail and leads us through the opening. Ben burns some cobwebs that are in the doorway. He lights the the two torches on the wall. I take one and look around the room. There's nothing but dust and solid walls that look like they won't budge. Patrick lights the lantern.<p>

"What is this?" Riley asks. "So where's the treasure?" Shippen asks. Ben doesn't answer.

"Well?" My Dad is growing impatience. "This is it? We came all this way for a dead end?" Riley snaps.

"Yes." Ben sighs. Dad laughs.

"There's gotta be something more." Riley asks. "Riley, there's nothing more." I hiss. Trying to give him the hint that Ben has something up his sleeves even if he doesn't know it yet.

"Another clue, or…" Riley starts. "No, there are no more clues! That's it, okay? It's over! End of the road. Treasure's gone. Moved. Taken somewhere else." Ben yells. I flinch at every word said, this is so sad that he thinks its over.

"You're not playing games with me. are you, Ben? Hm? You know where it is." Dad says. "No."

"OK, go." Shippen runs out to the elevator. Dad follows. "Hey, wait a minute!" Ben yells.

"Hey! Ian, wait!" Riley snaps.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

"Ian…" Abigail starts. "We'll be trapped." Riley says.

"Dad, you can't leave us here." I snap. "Yes, I can. Unless Ben tell me the next clue." Dad says.

"There isn't another clue." Ben snaps. "Ian, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together?" Riley says. Dad takes out my gun and points it at Riley.

"Don't speak again." Dad snaps. "Hey!" I yell.

"You don't defend him." The gun is now aimed at me. "I can defend who I want!"

"The clue. Where's the treasure? Ben?" Dad aims the gun at Ben. "The lantern." I look at Patrick and tilt my head in confusion. What is he planning?

"Dad…" Ben whispers. "The status quo had changed, son." Patrick says.

"Don't." Ben warns him. "Raven, is the clue the lantern?" I turn to Patrick and he nods.

"Yes. It's part of freemason teachings. King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. So, yes the lantern is the clue, Dad." I sigh. This is true but misleading, let's hope Dad falls for it. "And what does it mean?" Dad asks.

"Boston. It's Boston." Ben says. "The Old North Church in Boston, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple, to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look." Patrick says.

"Thank you." Dad says. "Hey, you have to take us with you." Patrick protects.

"Why? So you can escape in Boston? Why would I want that? Besides, with you out of the picture there's less baggage to carry." Dad says. "What if we lied?" I ask.

"Did you?" I gulp, I try not to lie to my father when I was little but I knew it was the right thing. "No, we aren't lying." I say.

"Good."

"What if there's another clue?" Ben asks. "Then I'll know right where to find you." Dad says. He stares at Ben. "See you, Ben." Shippen crunches the elevator up so we can't get out.

"NO!" Ben yells. "There's no other way out!" Riley yells.

"Come back!" Abigail shouts. "You need us, Ian!" Patrick says. Dad to far up to even care. I smirk at Ben and Patrick.

"Well, that went…great." Abigail shakes her head in confusion. "We're all going to die." Riley says.

"We aren't going to die, Riley." I say.

"It's going to be OK, Riley. I'm sorry I yelled at you." Ben says. "It's okay, kiddo." Patrick says to Riley. Patrick and Ben run into the room.

"Alright, what's going on? The British came by sea was two lanterns, not one." Abigail informs them. "We just gave him a clue. True or false." I smirk.

"It was fake. It was a fake clue." Riley says. I nod and kiss his cheek. "This was the plan I was going to tell you later." Abigail laughs and Riley rolls his eyes. "The all-seeing eye. 'Through the all-seeing eye.'" I hear Ben mumble to himself as he knocks on the wall.

"That means…by the time Ian figures it out and comes back here, we'll still be trapped, and he'll shoot us then. Either way, we're going to die." I roll my eyes at Riley. "Nobody's going to die. There's another way out." Ben says.

"Where?" Riley asks. "Through the treasure room." Ben smiles. Ben presses a button on the seating area place. I'm not sure what to describe it as. The wall crakes open, Ben and Patrick push the door open. Abigail and Riley take the torches that they had in hand.


	10. Thank You Gift

Chapter Ten: Thank You Gift

**Final chapter. End of a good story. I'm happy that I'm finally finished but its sad to finish this. I'm happy with the response to it and I hope I get as good response to the next one. I had to make up the last bit because I didn't know who long it was after the treasure was given to everyone!**

Ben and Patrick go through the door and my mouth drops to the ground as Patrick lights two more torches. For Abigail and Riley. There's nothing here. "Looks like someone got here first." Riley breaks the silence.

"I'm sorry, Ben."

"It's gone." Ben sighs. "Listen, Ben…" Patrick starts.

"It may have even been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates." Ben sighs. "It doesn't matter." Patrick says.

"I know. 'Cause you were right." Ben says. What? Ben is agreeing with his father about the treasure. That's a first. "No, I wasn't right. This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure it real. We're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history, because you found what they left behind for us to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it, Ben. For all of us. Your grandfather, and all of us. And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong." Patrick says. I smile along with Abigail.

"I just…really thought I was going to find the treasure." Ben says sitting on a ledge. "OK. Then we just keep looking for it." Patrick says. Ben looks at his father.

"I'm in." Abigail steps front. "Me too." I smile at Ben.

"Okay."

"No to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but that's not gonna happen because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here." Riley says. "Oh, yeah." I forgot that part. "Now, Ben, where's this other way out?"

"Well, that's it. It doesn't make any sense, because the first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was cut a secondary shaft back out for air…" Ben starts. "Yes, of course!" I say. "…and in case of cave-ins." Everyone starts to look around the room for that shaft. It has to be around here somewhere. Ben fingers a stone area, I walk over to the group standing behind Ben. There's an opening.

Ben pulls out the pipe. "Could it really be that simple? 'The secret lies with Charlotte.'" Ben whispers. Abigail gives Ben a look, I understand what he means by that. He puts the base of the pipe into the opening and the steam into the circle cut out. He turns the rock and presses it. Wind escapes a near by opening. We turn towards the newly formed opening and I couldn't help but smile. Patrick goes first along with Riley. I hurry about them. Abigail follows while Ben grabs a torch. I stop in the doorway, allowing Ben to get in. I can't believe the treasure is right in our hands now. I walk around the floor looking at every piece of artifact. I ever so gently touch some of the artifacts. I can't believe what I'm seeing, not that I had any doubt but…wow. I look over my shoulder and see Ben messing with what's in the center. He puts his torch in it. The fire from the torch flies down every area that was like how we had up top. I walk over to him and gasp. I walk over to the ledge closest to Riley, waiting the fire expose any artifact that is down here. My God! I look over at Riley, seeing tears in his eyes.

"Riley, are you crying?"

"Look. Stairs." Riley chokes out. I chuckle.

* * *

><p>I sit in-between Riley and Abigail, holding onto Riley's hand as Sedusky. Ben hands the Declaration over to him. "Just like that?" He asks. "Just like that."<p>

"You do know you just handed me your biggest bargaining chip?" Sedusky says. "The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining chip." Ben says. I nod to him with the agents behind us. Abigail looks up. "Not to me."

"Have a seat." Ben and Sedusky sit on the stairs. "So what's you offer?"

"Oh…How about a bribe? Say, uh…ten billion dollars?" Ben says. "I take it you found the treasure?" Sedusky says.

"It's about five stories beneath your shoes."

"Hm. You know, the Templars and the Freemasons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden." Sedusky says. He does know his history. "That's right." Ben says. "The Founding Fathers believed the same thing about government. I figured their solution will work for the treasure too."

"Give it to the people." Sedusky says.

"Divide it amongst the Smithsonian, the Louve, the Cairo museum…There's thousands of years of world history down there. And it belongs to the world, and everybody in it." Ben says. "You really don't understand the concept of a bargaining chip." Sedusky says. Ben chuckles.

"Okay, here's what I want. Dr. Chase get off completely clean, not even a little Post-it on her service record." Ben says. Abigail smiles. "I want the credit for the find to go the entire Gates family, with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole and Ms. Raven Howe." I smile at him.

Sedusky looks at me. "Raven Howe? She has a juvy record, I don't know how that's going to work." I sigh. "Well then, I want Raven's record to be completely clean then." I stare at Ben, I just want to hug him.

"I'll see what I can do and what about you?"

"I would really love not to go to prison. I can't even begin to describe how much I would love not to go to prison." Ben says. "Someone's got to go to prison, Ben." Sedusky says.

"Well, if you have a helicopter, Agent Sedusky. I think I know who you can arrest." I smirk. Sedusky looks up at me. "You want me to arrest your own father?" He asks. I stand up and walk over to them.

"Yes." I say. "Maybe this can clear up your record after all." Sedusky says. I smile.

* * *

><p>Boston, Midnight:<p>

Ben and I hide in the shadows, watching my Dad break into the Old North Church. The cops and FBI arrest Dad and his man. I walk out of the shadows first and wave with a smirk on my face. "Some betrayal, huh?" I yell. Ben walks out of the shadows, shrugging. Dad rolls his eyes.

* * *

><p>Spring Time 2005:<p>

I hold Riley's hand on Ben and Abigail's new place. Its been a 5 or 6 months since our adventure. Riley is on the phone. "Yeah. You got it, chief. Thank you. Bye." He hangs up the phone. "They want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit. They're sending a private jet."

"That's fun." Abigail says. "yeah, big whoop. We could have had a whole fleet of private jets. Ten percent, Ben. They offered you ten percent and you turned it down." Riley says.

"Riley, we've been over this. It was too much. I couldn't accept it." Ben says. "I still have this splinter that's been festering for three months from an old piece of wood." Riley says. I take his hand and kiss the area. Riley laughs.

"Okay, I'll tell you what. Next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you make the call on the finder's fee." Ben says. I burst out laughing. "Seriously?" I choke out. Riley glares at me then Ben.

"That's not as funny. Why do you care? You got the girl." I look at my boyfriend. "Excuse me?" Riley dares his eyes from me to Abigail. I chuckle and shake my head. "Don't worry about it Riley. I knew you had a crush on Abigail from the moment you laid eyes on her." Abigail looks at Riley with a suspense look. Ben kisses Abigail.

"Enjoy your spoils…while I sit on one percent." Riley jumps into his new car. I roll my eyes and open the door. I sit down and close the door. "One stinkin' percent. Half of one percent, actually. One percent. Unbelievable." Riley mumbles.

"I'm sorry for you suffering, Riley." Ben says. "Don't be, before we got here we almost crashed 25 times." I smirk. Riley shakes his head. Abigail raises an eyebrow.

"For the record, Ben, I like the house." Riley says trying to get off topic. "You know, I chose this estate because in 1812 Charles Carroll met…" Ben starts.

"Yeah, Ben….someone that did something in history and had fun. Great. Wonderful." I laugh. Ben laughs. "Abigail, do I have an interview?" I smile. She nods.

"Then, Ben, you could have had a bigger house." I smirk. Riley attempts to get out of Ben's driveway but driving on grass for a bit. I hear crunching gears as he drives. "Riley, you need to learn to drive this thing. Your going to crash it one day. I don't want this day to be my last." Riley rolls his eyes.

"Seriously? Do you want me to drive us home?" I ask. I've been living with Riley for the last couple of months. Riley shakes his head. I hold onto the safety bar on the side on the car. I gulp as we go into the street. I'm going to regret this later.


	11. Bonus

Chapter Eleven: Bonus Scenes

**I forgot about the deleted scenes when I wrote the first story. I'm going to do this with my second story! Enjoy two bonuses!**

Ben lights up the chandler and hands the torch to my Dad. He and Riley untie the chandler and put it in the center of the room. Finally, some light.

"Wow."

"Look at the elevators." Ben says. "A dumbwaiter system." Patrick says.

"How do a bunch of quays with hand tools build all this?" Shippen asks. "Same way they built the pyramids and the Great Wall of China." I say.

"Yeah, the aliens helped them." Riley says. I roll my eyes.

"Right, let's go. What are we waiting for?" Dad says. "I'm not going out on that thing. 200 years of termite damage and rot." Patrick protects.

"Mr. Gates, we don't have choose." I say. Patrick sighs and nods. Patrick steps slowing on the aging wood. He loses his footing when one of the boards breaks. "Care." Dad mumbles. Maybe he does care about Patrick's safety.

"Watch your step." Patrick rolls his eyes. Everyone slowly follows Patrick. He steps on a piece of wood and it falls off. "Watch your step."

"We're right under the Trinity graveyard. That's probably why no one ever found it." Patrick says. Riley places his hands on the wood railing, leaning forward to look down. He looks down at his hands and gasp. He wipes away a bug that on his hand. Riley gasps when he notices bugs on his shoes. He comes up behind me, grabbing my hand. "Afraid of bugs, are we?" I smirk.

"Oh, shush." Riley groans. The place starts to rumble above us. Dust falls. "What is that?" Riley asks.

"Subway." I say. Shaw takes a step and he falls to his death. "Shaw! Oh, God, Shaw!" Dad yells. I cover my mouth, trying not to scream. Riley pulls me close to him as tears formed. As much as I hated him, I didn't want him to die like that.

"Oh my God." Abigail mumbles. The wood underneath my feet starts to break. I hold onto the wall with Riley as everyone pulls themselves to safety. Shippen jumps onto a level system. "Ben! Grab my hand!" Abigail yells. I attempt to pull myself to safety. I glance over to Ben and Abigail, Ben holds his hand out for me to grab onto. I jump from where I was and Ben pulls me up to him. He does the same for Riley.

Patrick jumps onto the level system with Shippen. Shippen is nice enough not to let him fall. Dad jumps and almost doesn't make it. Shippen pulls him to safety. "Ian, we can't go down this way! We'll leave, we'll come back with safety gear!" Ben yells.

"No, we find the treasure, now get on the elevator." Dad snaps. "You saw what happened to Shaw. Do you want that to happen to us?" I say. Dad grabs Patrick, getting ready to push him off the elevator.

"Get on the elevator. Now." Dad snaps. "Alright. Its okay, Dad." Ben says. The four of us get on elevator. Ben nods to Dad. Riley jumps onto the elevator.

"Okay, let's go down." Dad says to Shippen. Ben lowers us down, following Dad. "This isn't bloody safe, Ben." I snap. I make sure Dad can here me. Suddenly our elevator breaks off and goes free falling. I fall on top of Riley. I get off him and gasp. I can't believe my Dad is trying this. I can't believe he's making it seem like he wants to get us killed.

"We need to get off this." Abigail says. "That's an excellent plan." Ben says. I look over the edge.

"Not so excellent unless you have a death wish." I say. "Can we make it?" Abigail asks.

"Not sure." Ben takes off the Declaration which Riley takes a flying leap to the ground. "Hey. Who said you could go first?" I snap, following him. Once again I hand on top of him.

"Why do we always bloody land on you?" I mumble. I stand up and smile at my friends. "That wasn't too

bad." Ben rolls his eyes.

"Then take this." Ben offers the Declaration but they go free falling again without Riley and I. I take his hand and we make our way to Ben and Abigail who are know hanging from their support system. "Riley, we need to get down there!" I say. We try not to run to get to our friends. Ben lets go off Abigail, slamming onto the wood platform.

* * *

><p>Alternate Ending:<p>

Boston, Midnight:

Ben and I hide in the shadows, watching my Dad break into the Old North Church. The cops and FBI arrest Dad and his man. I walk out of the shadows first and wave with a smirk on my face. "Some betrayal, huh?" I yell. Ben walks out of the shadows, shrugging. Dad rolls his eyes.

* * *

><p>The Archives:<p>

Two elementary school boys look at the Declaration of Indepence. "Do you really thing there's a map on the back?" One asks. "Naw. It a plot to learn history." The second one says. Ben stops and stares at the Constitution of the United States.

"What are you thinking about?" Abigail asks. "Nothing." Ben continues to stares at the document.

"There's nothing on the back of the Constitution." Abigail holds onto his hand. "I was not thinking that." Ben smiles.

"Are you sure?" He asks. "Ben, I did the test myself." I smirk.

"So the job is good?" Ben asks. "Yep, being able to look at documents all day is amazing and that was the first document I look at." I laugh. I walk over to my boyfriend and hold onto his hand. Patrick tells us a story.

"Gulf of Mexico?" Ben questions. "Here we again." I mumble.

Riley let's go of my hand and stands there, thinking. Oh, that's never good… "Okay, one request can we keep some of the treasure this time?" Riley chases after them. I shake my head and laugh. Of course he would ask that.


End file.
